72 THE BANANA 



54, 50, and 43 hundred dozens of bananas per acre, are 

 easily picked out, and form a striking contrast with the 

 result of the unmanured plot D, on which the stools are 

 practically dying out. On Mr. Guy's plots, first series, 

 the results are not so striking, and in most cases the 

 bunches were very much later, so that, in order to get 

 a fair comparison of the second year's harvest, which, as 

 a rule, was taken in our experiments up to December in 

 each year, we estimated the crop up to March (figures on 

 the table in italics). The poorer results of Mr. Guy's 

 plots of the first series are partly due to heavy washaways 

 in the earlier stages of growth. 



" So far no definite conclusions can be drawn from 

 the first series of experiments with regard to the advan- 

 tages of either superphosphate (P) or Thomas' Phosphate 

 (Pt), but the superiority of dried blood (Nb) and of nitrate 

 of lime (Nn) as a source of nitrogen over ammonium 

 sulphate (Na) is quite apparent. 



" With regard to the second series of experiments, which 

 were planted in September 1910, the lateness of the crop, 

 due to a rather dry season, is particularly noticeable on 

 Mr, Foote's block, and only on plots L, M, and N, 

 on which, prior to the planting of bananas, a very 

 heavy crop of pigeon-peas was grown and ploughed under, 

 the majority of the bunches was harvested by the end of 

 December. The crop itself is not quite up to the results 

 of the first year's crop of the first series. The stools, 

 however, look particularly well, and the growth of the 

 second suckers is quite phenomenal, resembling the healthy 

 vigorous growth of bananas on virgin scrub land, so that 

 the second year's harvest should be a very heavy one. 

 On Mr. Guy's block, second series, the bunches matured 

 earlier all round, and the yield was quite as good as that 

 of the first crop of the first series, experimental plots 

 12 and 14, with the double amount of fertilizers, giving 

 again the best results. 



" On all the experimental plots green manures wer:: 

 grown between the bananas, and the crop of sma<j 



